Star Wars: The Ancient Empire
by Mnkjango
Summary: The Empire has ruled for seven years. Andus Striker is just trying to survive. But when he accidentally activates his father's holocron, he gets a lot more than he bargained for. Now the fate of the galaxy rests on his shoulders. As he travels the galaxy, makes new allies, and dodges the Empire, Andus discover ancient secrets... secrets that maybe he shouldn't have unburied.
1. Prologue

_A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…_

_STAR WARS_

_THE ANCIENT EMPIRE_

_It is a dark time for the galaxy. For nine months, the GALACTIC EMPIRE has ruled with an iron fist. The Jedi have disappeared into hiding, or have been exterminated. Any rebellions that have risen have been crushed in days, and most systems have lost any hope of freedom from this new force._

_Unbeknownst to the galaxy, EMPEROR PALPATINE has been slowly building a powerful superweapon that will guarantee his rule for years to come. While progress is slow, each day it grows larger, and the DARK SIDE of the FORCE grows stronger. But the Emperor has felt a tremor in the Force, and fears something is stirring that will threaten his rule._

_Unwilling to let anything stand in his way, the Emperor has sent his right hand, DARTH VADER, to the planet LURAT V to hunt down and destroy the source of the tremor. As an Imperial starfleet descends on the planet, a hidden Jedi attempts to flee with his family and knowledge the Empire cannot gain…._

Lurat V was a rocky planet, dotted with mountains and valleys between them. Towns were nestled in these valleys, surprisingly advanced for a planet in the Outer Rim. The weather was calm, with a gentle breeze, but the warm sun was blocked out by the impending threat overhead that had the townspeople panicking and screaming. Far overhead, the _Exactor_ loomed. Three _Lambda_-class shuttles descended towards the planet. Within the village, one family was frantically packing their belongings. A woman with brown hair and grey eyes helped her younger son pack his toys, while the family's protocol droid helped the older son.

"Lerin, we need to leave," the woman called to her husband, who was in the other room. He hurriedly closed a small metal container, and, walking over to his dresser, he opened a secret compartment on the side, pulling out a small, silver cylinder. Walking out into the entrance hall to meet his family, he heard the three shuttle touching down in the village square and tensed slightly.

Outside, Imperial Stormtroopers rushed out of two of the shuttles and began restraining all the villagers. They ran into homes and dragged families out, pushing them to their knees in the square. Suddenly, all the troopers snapped to attention as the third shuttle's boarding ramp lowered. Steam hiised from exhaust panels on the ship's underside as a strange, inhuman, mechanical breathing noise emanated from within the shuttle.

Down the ramp came none other than Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith. He surveyed the village with little interest, scanning for the presence he'd felt from orbit that signified a Jedi. he pinpointed it almost instantly; a house on the outskirts of the village. He gestured to a squad of troopers and began heading towards the house. The squad followed behind.

Lerin paled as he felt Vader's presence approaching. Any thought of escape for him faded in that moment. He turned to his wife and handed her the metal container. "Keep it safe," he said. "Keep the children safe, too." She seemed to be on the verge of crying. "Lerin…" she pleaded, but they both knew there was no escape for him. "Use this communicator to call for help. A friend will pick you up." He handed her a small comm device, then kissed her quickly. He hugged each of his children, the older's face set in grim acceptance and the younger's blank, as he was too young to understand this would be the last time he saw his father. Then Lerin turned and walked out to meet his fate.

Outside, Vader approached the house, his breathing cutting though Lerin's resolve. He stopped a couple meters from the entrance, where Lerin stood, lightsaber in hand but not yet turned on. "Lerin Striker," Vader said, a simple statement. "Lord Vader," the jedi greeted in an equally blank tone. "So the Emperor finally found me."

"You cannot hide from the Empire, or from the Dark Side," Vader replied, still not moving. "You have a Jedi holocron in your possession. You hid it well, but now I can sense it. Surrender it, and your life may be spared." Lerin ignited his lightsaber, the neon blue glow hitting his face. "You're a fool if you think I'd fall for that. I won't give you anything." Vader drew his lightsaber, igniting it and holding it in front of him. "Then you will die." Then the fight began.

Lerin lunged forward, slashing sideways. Vader blocked the attack effortlessly, and the next several attacks afterwards. He began pushing Lerin back, eventually cornering him against the wall of the house. Vader raised his left hand and made a choking motion. Lerin dropped his lightsaber and gripped at his throat. Vader crushed the weapon with his foot and raised Lerin into the air. "Disappointing," Vader rumbled. "It seems I overestimated your abilities, Jedi." He squeezed his hand into a fist and jerked it slightly to the side, snapping Lerin's neck. Then he let the lifeless corpse fall to the ground. He turned to the squad. "Find the family," he commanded. "Bring me the holocron." The troopers entered the house.

They searched it up and down, but the family was gone. They were fleeing through the small woods outside the village, the mother ushering the children and droid along frantically. With one arm she clutched the box that held her husband's holocron. She looked over her shoulder to see Stormtroopers running towards them through the trees. Clearly, they'd found their escape route and followed. She turned towards the droid and, removing the holocron from the box, handed it to the droid. Stopping, she crouched down and hugged her younger son. She stood up and, placing her hands on the sides of the older child's face, she met his eyes. "Take care of Andus. Please." The boy nodded. She kissed him on the forehead, then straightened up. Pulling a blaster from her belt, she turned around. The droid quickly pushed the children into a run again.

They were still running when they heard the blaster shots. They kept running even as they heard the Stormtroopers gaining again, the empty box not having fooled them. Suddenly, a bright light shone overhead. A ship hovered above them, lights shining through the trees. Lasers burst from guns on the wings, mowing down the troopers. The ship landed, and the ramp opened. A man in black armor and a cloak came down, firing a rifle at the remaining troopers as they took cover behind trees. "Get on the ship!" he yelled to them as he fired, his helmet's vocoder amplifying his voice over the sound of the blasterfire. The three figures began moving up the ramp.

A red blade emerged from the shadow of the trees, reflecting off black armor. Vader marched steadily forward, blocking the lasers fired at him with ease. Holding his left hand out to the side, he ripped a tree from the ground and threw it at the ship. The cloaked man ducked up the ramp, closing it behind him. A moment later, the ship raised off the ground and flew away. Vader watched it go, the only noise his breathing and the rustling of he leaves in the wind. Then he retracted his blade and turned, heading back towards his shuttle with what remained of his squad.

He hadn't failed, not really. After all, there was one less Jedi in the galaxy, and he knew now what he needed to find. Whatever was in that holocron was important, that much was obvious. But there was something more as well. That holocron was the key to changing the fate of the galaxy.

And Vader was determined that it would be changed in his favor.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Andus opened his eyes groggily as noises from the cockpit of the ship woke him. Rubbing his eyes gently, the Seventeen-year-old sat up and yawned. "Nate, what's all the noise?" he called. The only response he got was muffled cursing. Sighing, Andus stood up and left his small room, shutting the door behind him as he went into the small hallway. He turned left and headed up to the cockpit. When he got in, he saw Nate sitting at the controls. Nothing seemed out of place. "What happened?" The jet black protocol droid turned towards him, annoyance somehow present on his expressionless face. "I just managed to convince the station crew to let us onboard, after much arguing." Andus grinned. "Was it them or you doing the cursing?" he asked. "Har har. Very funny." Nate replied as he turned back to the controls. Andus knew that if he could, N8-YO would roll his eyes. As it was, he managed to convey quite a bit of emotion with just his words.

Andus sat down in the copilot seat as their ship approached the station. Veritos Alpha was an orbital space station orbiting the planet Veritos. It was made during the Clone Wars as a military outpost, but when the Empire took over they'd abandoned it. It quickly became a breeding ground and meeting place for pirates, bounty hunters, and anyone who wanted to live somewhere the Empire wouldn't bother them. Sure, the Empire had the firepower to blow the whole thing into scrap, but there wasn't really a point. At least, that was what Andus figured. After all, if it wasn't Veritos Alpha it would be one of the other hundreds of abandoned Republic outposts, ar anywhere, really.

"I still think this is a bad idea," Nate said as he maneuvered the ship into one of the station's hangers. "So you've said," Andus replied as he stood up. Heading down to the ships armory, he grabbed his helmet and pistols, and plenty of other supplies. Once he was certain he was well-equipped enough to take out a small army (which he was fully expecting to do), he holstered his pistols and put on his helmet, the gunmetal exterior glinting dully in the fluorescent light, making the black markings that made the mask resemble a skull stand out more. He made sure his HUD was working properly, then grabbed his backpack and joined Nate by the ramp.

Nate had grabbed a blaster rifle, which he had strapped to his back, and his usual combat vibroknife. Andus looked over Nate and couldn't help but feel a bit of pride at the modifications he'd made to the droid, even though he'd done it four years ago. After deciding Nate would be more helpful if he could fight, Andus had used pieces of Stormtrooper armor and a few battle droid parts to make Nate more durable and mobile. After that, Nate had been quite a bit more useful. He'd even saved Andus' ass a couple times.

"I'm just pointing out that stealing a ship from a pirate gang in the middle of a transaction is stupid," Nate said as he lowered the ramp. "Yeah, well, would you rather stay flying in this thing?" Andus asked him. "It's a piece of crap." As if to demonstrate, the ramp stuck halfway down. Sighing, Andus crawled out through the small gap into the docking bay. "On the contrary, it's quite durable." Nate said as he followed. "Remember what the dealer said? It blew up during the war." Andus snorted. "Yeah, and then he pieced it back together haphazardly. Now it barely flies at all." He gazed over at the silver name written on the side in Aurebish:

'_The Twilight_.'

"It's a miracle we haven't died already." Turning from it, he walked out into the station, with Nate following behind.

They walked out into a massive market, filled with small markets selling questionable goods. Narrow streets snaked between the booths, crowded with dozens of different species, some humanoid and others almost bestial. There were some droids scattered about, too, rusted with age or cobbled together from pieces that didn't really fit together well. Andus and Nate pushed their way through the crowd, staying alert in case of pickpockets or trigger-happy pirates.

"I've got it all planned out," Andus said to Nate, comfortable speaking about his plan as the noise of the station kept their words private. "The pirates are buying the ship from a bounty hunter who stole it from another pirate gang for them, right? So, I figured out who said other gang was, and tipped them off. I told them what time the deal was and where. So, when they come and ambush the deal, distracting everyone else, we'll grab the ship, maybe the hunter's credits too if we're lucky, and get the hell out of dodge." Nate sighed. "There are several flaws in that plan," he said, but Andus wasn't really listening.

After an elevator ride and lots of taking back alleys to avoid attention, they arrived at the private hangar that the deal was taking place in. Andus dropped out of the air vent he'd snuck in through and onto the floor. He crawled over to a pile of crates as Nate jumped down from the vent quietly and joined him, drawing his blaster rifle. Andus drew his pistols and peered over the crate.

A heavily modified, black _Lambda_-class Imperial shuttle sat in the hangar, ramp open and wings folded. In front of it stood a man in dark green, full body armor and a white helmet. Two glowing orange rectangles served as the helmet's eyeholes, and a small black square over the mouth area signified the helmet's vocoder. The man held a blaster rifle in his hands and was looking around, seemingly bored. Beside him, an astromech of the same shade of green seemed to be running diagnostics on the shuttle, probably for lack of better things to do. Clearly the hunter had arrived early and had been calmly waiting since.

Suddenly, the hangar door opened. About two dozen or so pirates walked into the room, led by a man in a chestplate studded with clearly fake jewels. His right eye was mechanical, and he had silver and gold rings on every finger. His appearance practically screamed "pirate captain". It also screamed "try hard", although usually the two came hand in hand for modern pirates. "Ah, the noble hunter has delivered." The bounty hunter slung his rifle over his back. "Yeah, I did. You sound surprised." The pirate laughed. "Not at all, not at all. I chose you for a reason, my friend. You have quite a good reputation." The hunter didn't respond for a moment. "You owe me, Ralk." he said after a bit. The pirate, apparently named Ralk, smiled. "Straight to business, eh? Very well." He gestured behind him. One of his men brought a silver case forward and handed it to the armored man. He took it and opened it to check its contents. The he shut it. "Pleasure doing business with you. Ship's all yours." He turned to leave, when suddenly the hangar doors exploded inward.

A group of people in black leather armor burst in and began shooting at the people in the hangar. "Finally," Andus said. "Come on." He started out from behind the crate. "Programming or not, I don't know how I put up with this," Nate muttered, then followed. Andus drew his pistols and dodged rogue laser bolts as he ran towards the shuttle. Suddenly he was hit in the face by something solid and collapsed. Standing over him was the bounty hunter. The man drew his rifle and pointed it an Andus. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blast your brains out right now," he growled. Before either of them could say anything else, Nate fired at the hunter, landing two shots square on his chest. He stumbled back and grunted, allowing Andus to get up and knock the rifle from the man's hands. He fired his pistols, but the hunter dodged and drew a pistol from his belt, firing back. Nate ran forward, putting away his rifle and drawing his vibroknife. He lunged, aiming for a gap in the armor, but the man sidestepped him. Holstering his pistol, he held his arms out.

Two metal poles shot from the undersides of his wrists, then handles extended into his hands. The two batons then disconnected from his suit, and he swung them around so the long ends were facing out. Pressing buttons on their handles, the ends erupted with energy the same neon orange as the helmet's eyes. Andus groaned. "You gotta be kidding me." Drawing a knife from a nearby pirate corpse, he lunged at the hunter, who blocked the strike and swung the other baton. Andus barely dodged, catching the man's wrist. Nate took the opportunity to lunge again, only for a laser blast to hit him in the leg, knocking him over. Nearby, the green astromech made a pleased beep, the blaster sticking out of his central body smoking.

The hunter quickly knocked Andus back down to the ground. Putting the batons away, he grabbed Andus by the front of his suit and slammed him against the wall. "Alright, kid, you're dead now," the hunter growled. He ripped Andus' helmet off his head. Then he froze. "What…" the hunter didn't move or let Andus go, and Andus was now confused. Then, the hunter removed his own helmet, revealing a scarred and bearded but no less familiar face.

"Andus?" Jek asked his brother. Andus just stared at the face of the brother he thought was dead.

And it was at that exact moment that the holocron in Andus' backpack, the only thing he had left of his father, began to glow as it activated for the first time in almost seven years.

Far across the galaxy, a scarred, hooded figure grinned villainously.

"Finally," he said. Pressing a button on his throne, a hologram of his apprentice appeared before him. "Lord Vader," Palpatine said to his apprentice, "the holocron has activated. Bring it to me." His grin widened. "And kill its bearer."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Jek was supposed to be dead. That was all Andus could think as he stared at his brother, who was clearly _not_ dead. For the last five and a half years, that's what he'd thought. Once he finally processed the information in front of him, a mix of emotions so strong and convoluted filled his head that he didn't know what to think or what to do.

He settled for punching Jek in the face.

Jek let go of Andus and stumbled back, clutching at his nose, which was probably broken or at least badly bruised. Andus landed on his feet and scooped his helmet off the floor. He placed it back on quickly, feeling less vulnerable with it on. "Andus what the-" Jek was cut off when Andus punched him in the face again. "WHAT THE HELL, ASSHOLE?!" Andus screamed at his brother, anger filling him. "I waited for you for two days at the rendezvous. Two. Fucking. _Days_. I thought you were killed by Imperials! Where the hell have you been?!" Jek stood up, rubbing at his nose.

"I tried to get to you," Jek grunted through his hand, "but there was no way to do that without getting killed, or drawing troopers to you. Then I got kidnapped by pirates and couldn't escape until they landed on Coruscant. After that, I looked for you. I couldn't find you. But I never gave up, Andus." Andus continued to glare at his brother. Nate, meanwhile, had just recognized Jek. "Jekthro? You're alive?" The droid asked. Jek raised his hand in acknowledgement without turning around. The green astromech beeped disappointedly, upset he couldn't keep fighting. Nate turned to him and gave as much of a glare as he could with a face that couldn't move.

The rather awkward family reunion was cut short when a couple pirates noticed the bounty hunter that had stolen their ship from them and began firing. Jek dodged with a roll, picking up his helmet and blaster rifle. "Come on!" he yelled, dragging Andus after him as he ran for cover. Nate and the astromech followed, Nate firing behind him as he ran and managing to down one of the attackers.

"So, why did you think it was a good idea to attack a hangar full of vicious pirates?" Jek asked his brother. "I needed a better ship than the one I had. You'd understand if you saw it." Jek looked at his brother. "You tipped these guys off, didn't you?" Andus nodded, smirking under his helmet as he fired at the pirates, killing two of them. Jek sighed. "Goddamnit, Andus."

"I count five more of them focused on us, and about six times that many scattered throughout the hangar," Nate supplied, firing at the pirates as well. The astromech whistled something helpfully. "Yes, I only counted the living ones. I'm not stupid." The droid beeped something else. "Excuse me?" Nate asked angrily, but the argument was cut off by an explosion as one of the pirates grew impatient and fired a rocket at their cover. Thankfully, they were unscathed, but the crates they were behind wouldn't last much longer. Jek gritted his teeth. "Get to the shuttle, I'll cover you." Andus shook his head. "Are you serious? We just met back up after almost six years. I'm not splitting away again, no matter how short."

Jek turned to him. "I'm not giving you a choice." He gestured to the astromech, who beeped an affirmative and proceeded to taze Andus. The teen collapsed against Nate, who picked him up, bridal style. Then he turned to Jek. "Try not to die." Jek nodded. "I'll see you guys in a minute." Nate turned, and he and the astromech ran for the shuttle. Jek dived out from behind the crates and fired repeatedly at the pirates. He sidestepped a stray bolt from a collapsing pirate and killed the last one of the group. Unfortunately, others had noticed him, and began firing. Jek cursed as his blaster was shot out of his hands, breaking into pieces on the floor. He grabbed a black cylinder off his belt and ran towards the pirates. As he did, he pressed a red button on the cylinder.

A brilliant green blade of light shot out of the end, and he blocked incoming laserfire. He reached the group slashed at them with the lightsaber, killing three of them in seconds. Nate turned on the boarding ramp to see Jek hacking at the pirates with his lightsaber. He would have smiled if he could. He began to call for Jek to come and get on the shuttle, when the entire hangar shook violently.

Outside, an Imperial fleet that had just arrived began firing at the station. Several shuttles headed towards the station. Within minutes, hundreds of stormtroopers had boarded the construct and were mowing down everyone in sight, working their way towards the hangar where the stolen shuttle was sitting.

Jek turned to see a squad of Stormtroopers burst into the hangar, opening fire on the pirates. Jek cursed and turned to the shuttle to see Nate. "Go!" he yelled, before turning to fight the soldiers. A moment later, the boarding ramp was shut, and the shuttle raised into the air and took off. Jek had just finished off the squad of Imperials when he was shot from behind with a stun blast. One of the black armored pirates lowered his gun, and two others restrained Jek and began dragging him back towards their ship. They may have lost their shuttle, but the thief would pay.

Outside, Nate piloted the shuttle through a massive space battle, the pirates and criminals on the station trying to escape or defend the only place they knew as home. They were rapidly losing, however, and it wouldn't be long until they had the undivided attention of the entire fleet. As it was, three TIE fighters were tailing them, forcing him to dodge their fire so he wouldn't have enough time to coordinate a hyperspace jump. "Does this thing have stealth?" he asked the astromech, who had introduced himself as R7-F3. The green droid hummed in thought, then went over to an interface panel and plugged in, scanning. After a moment, he beeped an affirmative.

He activated it, and a moment later, the shuttle disappeared from sight and from radar. The TIE fighters began shooting sequentially in areas that the shuttle might flee, trying to hit it even though they couldn't see it. Nate flew through a gap in the laserfire, pointed the shuttle towards the nearest jump point, plugged in the right coordinates, and pulled the lever. A moment later, the shuttle was gone.

Darth Vader sensed the presence of the holocron fade as the shuttle blasted off into hyperspace. Controlling his anger, he turned from the bridge window of the _Exactor_ and marched over to one of the captains. "Our target had fled. Set a course for Xyrul. We will intercept them." The captain nodded silently, and Vader turned and left the bridge. He would get that holocron. It would not escape him again.

Entering his meditation chamber, Vader sat down in the chair and pressed a button. The chamber's upper half lowered, clicking into place, followed by a hissing noise as it sealed and changed the air pressure inside to allow Vader to safely breathe with his helmet off. A metal arm gripped the helmet and removed it, revealing Vader's scarred, grayish head. Safe in his chamber, Vader allowed himself to show emotion. His fists clenched as he let his anger surface. On most people, it wouldn't seem like much, but for Vader, it signified a rage so potent only the strongest of Sith could experience it. After a moment, he restrained his anger again, saving it to channel into power later.

The ship jolted slightly as it jumped into hyperspace. He would be able to release his wrath soon enough. The Striker boy would die, and the holocron's data would be his, and the Emperor's. Whatever power it led to would belong to the Empire.

Nothing would stop them from achieving their goal, and bringing balance to the force.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, I'm back on this story. For those of you wondering, I write these stories in phases, because my interest in different fandoms comes and goes in phases. I don't want to work on a story when I'm not interested in the subject matter, because then my writing gets crappy, and I don't want to do that to you guys. I will write as my interest demands. Don't worry, whatever story you want me to update will be updated eventually.**

**Guest: If you remember young Boba Fett's helmet from the Clone Wars episode with Ventress and the train heist, it's kind of like that, but a bit sleeker and less bulky.**

**Story time!**

**Chapter 3**

Before Jek opened his eyes, he knew something was wrong.

After he opened them, he knew something was really wrong.

He was laying on a flat plasteel slab in a small metal room. The wall opposite the slab was made of red energy. It was very clearly a cell. And his armor was gone. Jek groaned in exasperation as he remembered what had happened, and collapsed onto the bed again. "I fucking _hate_ pirates," he muttered. He wondered if Andus and Nate had made it past the Imperial fleet. He hoped so. If Andus was captured, the Empire would get his holocron, and then… well, he wasn't entirely sure what then. But his father had died to keep that holocron away from the Emperor, so clearly it was important.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Two of the armored pirates appeared, escorting, surprisingly, a TX-20 tactical droid. "Jekthro Striker," the droid spoke in a monotone voice. "You've caused quite a bit of trouble for us." Jek stood up and spread his arms, putting on a sarcastic grin. "That's my job. But if you let me out and give me some credits, maybe I'll help you guys out." That wasn't true, of course. He needed to get back to Andus as quickly as possible. But if he could trick these guys into letting him out, he could escape. Unfortunately, the droid shook his head. "Not this time, bounty hunter. Captain Verin is very displeased with you. I'm afraid he has ordered you to be executed." Jek felt his heart drop a bit, but his outer appearance didn't change. "Any chance I could get him to dial that back a little bit? Maybe indentured servitude?" Again, the droid shook his head. "The captain's mind cannot be changed. You will be executed within the next 36 hours. I was instructed to inform you of this so that the captain could watch your despair on the cameras." Well, that was a problem. "Lovely gentleman," Jek said aloud. He watched as the droid and the pirates left without another word.

Jek sat back down on the bed. What the hell was he gonna do now? Maybe he could trick one of the guards. Or do something on the way to his execution. "Or count the stars as we go by them," he muttered to himself. "That'll work just as well." His eyes darted around the cell and fell on a vent cover embedded in the ceiling. Maybe… Looking at the camera in the corner of the room, he focused.

Jek's father had insisted on training him in the ways of the Jedi, saying it was up to him to carry on their traditions should anything happen to him. While most of his lessons had been on lightsaber construction and combat, and ancient Jedi history, there had also been some lessons on actual Force manipulation, too. Jek recalled those lessons now, clearing his mind of everything but what he wanted to do. There was a flurry of sparks, and the camera turned off. There. That bought him some time. Standing up, he looked up at the vent cover and raised his hand, focusing again. With a screech, the cover was ripped from the ceiling, falling to the floor with a loud crash. Jek flinched at the noise, but there didn't seem to be any guards at the moment, and it wasn't like it mattered. He was getting out. Of course, he was still trapped on a ship with nowhere to really go, but hey, it was a start.

He leapt up, grabbing the rim of the vent and pulling himself up. It was a tight squeeze, and Jek was actually thankful for his lack of armor. He probably wouldn't have fit at all if he'd been wearing it. He began crawling forward, not really having a specific direction but knowing the further he was from the cell, the harder he'd be to find. As it was, he had a head start. They'd probably send someone down to check the camera in a few minutes, and he planned to get as far as possible in that time.

Occasionally, he'd pass another vent cover, and he'd hear footsteps, conversations, and the occasional droid. No alarms went off, but at some point he thought he heard some rather frantic footsteps of a group of pirates, and Jek figured he could guess what they were up to. Eventually, though, all those noises faded. The vent covers started to get fewer and farther between. He was wondering if he would end up in the atmosphere generator when the vent underneath him gave way suddenly.

With a cry of pain, Jek hit the floor, and then coughed at all the dust his fall had stirred up. He got to his feet rapidly, expecting to have to make a run for it from angry pirates, only to see old, dim lights and crates covered with dust. He was in a storage room, but from the looks of things it hadn't been used in quite a long time. Given the nature of pirate ships, he figured the last gang to own it had made this into some sort of hidden room, and the current owners didn't even know it was here. _Well, at least I won't be found here_, he thought.

He sat down, wondering what to do next. It was true he wouldn't be found here, but it wasn't really a long term solution. He could make his way to the escape pods, but it would be risky and he'd likely be killed. He could also try to wait until they docked on a planet and sneak off the ship then, but he had neither the supplies nor the patience to wait however long that might be. Another idea would be to find his armor and try and take the entire ship on himself, but that was extraordinarily unlikely to succeed. He was a bounty hunter, not a tank. He looked around the storeroom, trying to see if there was anything, however unlikely, that could help him.

A slab of a metal like substance peeking out from behind a stack of crates caught his eye. Standing up and walking over, he pushed the crates out of the way and stared. It wasn't metal. It was carbonite. And there was someone in it. He gazed at the form trapped in the frozen substance with disbelief. He recognized that armor. It was similar to a stormtrooper's, but definitely different. It was a clone trooper. And he wasn't the only one.

Four more slabs, all with troopers embedded in them, were behind this one. Jek was extremely confused. He thought maybe it was just armor, but the positions they were in - and the panels on the sides displaying vital signs - said otherwise. Quietly, not really knowing what else to do, he began the defrosting procedure on the first slab. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he figured however long these troopers had been trapped was long enough, and maybe they could help each other to get off the ship.

He watched as the glow of defrosting carbonite revealed a trooper in black phase II armor - a commander judging by the antennae, pauldron and kama - and released him. The trooper collapsed to the floor, and Jek crouched down to look at him as the soldier slowly regained consciousness. "You good?" Jek asked as the soldier pushed himself off the ground a bit. The helmet rotated to face him. After a moment, the clone spoke. "Who… the hell… are you?" he asked, breathing deeply as his body tried to adjust from stasis. "My name is Jek," Jek replied. "And I think you and I can help each other out."

/

Andus groaned and opened his eyes, rubbing his head. What the hell happened? He'd just been talking to Jek and then… with a jolt, Andus sat up. Jek! He had to make sure his brother was ok. He got to his feet shakily and walked to the door of the small room he was in. He stumbled out into a small hallway, and crashed straight into Nate. "Andus!" the protocol droid said, surprised. "Are you alright? I was coming to check on you." Andus straightened up and looked at the droid. "I'm fine. Where's Jek?" If it was possible, Nate was giving off an air of nervousness. "He… he stayed behind. An Imperial fleet showed up at the station, and he told us to go." Andus paled. "What? He… damnit!" he punched the wall of the hallway angrily. He'd just found out his brother was alive, and now they were separated again. Jek could be captured by pirates, or Imperials, or worse.

His anger was temporarily alleviated as something occurred to him. "Who's 'us'?" Nate perked up a bit, seemingly glad Andu was distracted from the topic of his brother. "Jek's astromech came with us." Now it was Andus' turn to perk up. "Where is he?" Before Nate could reply, there was a beeping noise as said astromech rolled into view. "Can you track Jek's armor? It's got to have a beacon, right?" Andus asked the droid before he had even stopped rolling. The droid hummed thoughtfully before beeping an affirmative, but adding they couldn't do it while in hyperspace. "We're in hyperspace? Where are we heading?" The astromech responded that they were heading to Xyrul. "It was the closest jump point," Nate added. A beeping noise from down the hall, presumably from the cockpit, drew their attention. "And it seems we've arrived," Nate said, as the trio moved towards the cockpit. Inside, Nate sat down in the pilot's seat and pressed a few buttons.

Slowly, the streaks of blue and white in front of them coalesced into solid points of light and they entered realspace again. The gas planet of Xyrul and its moons greeted them…

...As did three Imperial ships.

"Shit! Pull up!" Andus yelled. Nate tugged on the controls and narrowly avoided crashing straight into one of the ships. Before he could do much more, however, the controls jerked, and suddenly they were being pulled towards the central ship. "We're caught in a tractor beam," Nate said, sounding angry and concerned simultaneously. "What the hell do they want with us?" Andus asked. Nate didn't respond, but Andus' heart dropped a bit when he remembered exactly _what_ was in his backpack. He pulled it off and opened it, pulling out the holocron. It was glowing, and that only worsened the feeling in his chest. Somehow, maybe from the strength of his emotions at seeing his brother again, the holocron had activated."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Andus said, and the astromech behind him beeped an agreement as the ship was pulled into the belly of an Imperial starship.


End file.
